Trusting Jesus When Life Is Hard: A Study on John 6Sýnishorn

Don’t Forget to Remember

As we lean into God during seasons or moments of uncertainty, He’s faithful to grow and build our faith. We see this in the way Andrew responded to Jesus and the hungry crowd.

While Philip was acknowledging the reality and limitations of the situation, Andrew had gone and found a boy’s lunch. In the basket were five loaves and two fish.

When he presented this basket to Jesus, surely he wondered how this little bit of food would provide for the massive crowd—yet he still offered it.

So what’s the difference between the question Philip asked and the question Andrew asked? Andrew is showing a little bit of faith.

Both Philip and Andrew had witnessed Jesus’ other miracles leading up to this moment, because they'd been traveling together with Him. But even though they had the same experiences, their faith was vastly different.

Andrew must have remembered and considered what Jesus had done, and believed He would somehow move again.

This tension of doubt versus remembering—and relying on the faithfulness of God—is similar to what happened to the Israelites in the Old Testament. God had mightily delivered Israel, His chosen people, out of slavery in Egypt. It was then that the Israelites began to experience a sequence of awesome miracles from God—the parting of the Red Sea; the daily provision of “manna” bread; water pouring out a rock; and so much more.

And yet, they regularly panicked over their current challenges, quickly forgetting God’s ongoing, miraculous provision.

It’s easy to be like the Israelites when we’re experiencing a problem and quickly forget what God has already done in our lives. We can also miss the many ways He’s faithfully providing for us today.

Instead of falling into forgetfulness, let’s be like Andrew—recalling what God has already done, and choosing to believe in His unchanging faithfulness.

We will soon see that Andrew’s small step of faith became part of the solution Jesus used to feed the multitude.

Journal: Begin a short list of ways you’ve seen God provide in the past. Thank Him for what He’s already done. Ask Him to grow your faith for today.